The first building, now known as Commerce Court North, was opened in 1931 as the headquarters of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, a precursor bank to the current main tenant. The building was the site of Toronto's first Wesleyan Methodist Church, a small wood chapel surrounded by woods from 1818 to 1831, then as Theatre Royal from 1833 onwards. From 1887 to 1927 it was home to a seven-storey head office of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, which was demolished to make way for Commerce Court North. The Canadian Bank of Commerce head office was designed by the American bank specialists York and Sawyer with the notable Canadian firm Darling and Pearson as the local architects of record. Structural engineering was provided by Harkness and Hertzberg. The 34-storey limestone clad tower was the tallest building in the British Empire/Commonwealth for roughly three decades, until 1962. At the time of its construction, the building was one of the most opulent corporate headquarters in Canada, and featured a public observation deck.
Later buildings
In 1972, three other buildings were erected, thus creating the Commerce Court complex: glass and stainless steelglass curtain wallInternational Style Commerce Court West designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners with Page and Steele, Originally, Commerce Court West 57 was an observation floor. Commerce Court East and Commerce Court South are glass and applied masonry structures also by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners with Page and Steele in 1972. In 1994, Zeidler Partnership Architects was commissioned to renovate the Commerce Court urban plaza, the banking area at the base of Commerce Court West, and the below-grade retail area. There are 65 retails shops in the plaza below the complex. The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce sold the complex in April, 2000, now managed by GWL Realty Advisors, but the head office of the bank remains the anchor tenant. On Wednesday, January 9, 2008, a portion of a CIBC sign at the top of the Commerce Court West building blew off as a result of wind gusts. Police cordoned off the area as a precaution. As a result, Bay St. from Front to Richmond and King St. from York to Yonge were shut down. Toronto Transit Commission service was diverted. This took place eight months after a piece of white marble panel fell from the 60th storey of the First Canadian Place building, and ten months after layers of ice fell from the CN Tower.
Commerce Court plaza
Surrounding the Commerce Court complex of buildings is a plaza featuring a fountain in its centre, and a three piece bronze sculpture by Derrick Stephan Hudson entitled, Tembo, Mother of Elephants completed in 2002. The sculptures were installed on site in 2005 on loan from the L.L. Odette Foundation of Windsor, Ontario. In popular culture, the plaza was used as a stand-in for Wall Street in a pair of Kids in the Hall sketches featuring Mr. Tyzik, the Headcrusher.
CIBC has announced plans to relocate its headquarters from Commerce Court to CIBC Square, beginning in 2020, in a move which will also consolidate staff from various other CIBC offices from the Toronto area. However, the bank intends to maintain a presence at Commerce Court.
